How to make the ultimate Super Bowl commercial

Today’s the day advertisers try to do to each other what the LA linemen want to do to Tom Brady: crush ’em. But creating the perfect Super Bowl commercial for the game’s 100-million viewers comes with challenges.

“Every other [TV] show, advertisers know how many men are watching, how many [people] in an age group,” says Glenn Gerstner, an associate professor of sport management at St. John’s University. “The Super Bowl has no demographic. It’s everybody.”

So the main goal is to simply grab eyeballs, sometimes using the element of surprise.

One of the buzziest commercials so far is for Stella Artois and stars a truly odd couple: Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) of “Sex and the City” and The Dude (Jeff Bridges) from “The Big Lebowski.” In it, Carrie arrives at a bar and is asked by the maitre’d, “Cosmopolitan?” But she refuses her signature drink, calling for a Stella instead. (It’s not only a curveball, but presumably the character’s first carbs.)

Then The Dude shows up and eschews his expected White Russian for a Stella — while wearing the same jelly sandals and Pendleton cardigan he wore in the movie. As in, the exact same ones. Bridges saved them.

Authenticity was top of mind, said Corinna Falusi, chief creative officer at Mother New York, the agency behind the ad.

“[The actors] said that their concern about how the character would be perceived by their fans was the uniquely most important thing to them,” Falusi explained.

Bridges came up with the idea to have The Dude order a “Stella Are-tose.” Parker, who glitters in gold sequins, worked with her personal stylist to chose an outfit that seemed like something Carrie would wear in 2019. (Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of Stella, did not confirm exactly when the commercial would air.)

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